Not the facts so much as what and how he would say or cover it up. So much of good comedy is in the delivery, and the funniest jokes all reference the most heinous crimes. You can't have funny without tragedy.

If we always describe our enemies that way, what does that say about us?

It says that despite all our differences we are actually a fairly easy going and peace loving lot who require the active and accentuated stimulus of the oversimplified good vs evil boogey man argument to agitate us into supporting the frenzied destruction of other sovereign nation states on the premise that they "might" be up to something that the ruling elite deem contrary or potentially harmful to the otherwise hegemonic control and thus bottom line profits of the military industrial complex that they so jealously guard and so skillfully co ordinate in order that they be able to enrich themselves upon the death, suffering and misery of others.

Or so my

ultra-liberal indoctrination

tells me.

we are actually a fairly easy going and peace loving lot who require the active and accentuated stimulus of the oversimplified good vs evil boogey man argument to agitate us into supporting the frenzied destruction of other sovereign nation states

Sadly, this is true. I was hoping that Columbia's "elite" and "soon to be elite" have more intellectual depth than what they have displayed.

something that the ruling elite deem contrary or potentially harmful to the otherwise hegemonic control and thus bottom line profits of the military industrial complex

These two (i.e. ruling elite and the Military-Industrial complex) are the beneficiaries of the foolishness of the "us" you pointed to and we have no one to blame but "us". Like they say: Every people get the government they deserve.

this is true in the usa because we actually vote for everyone.

this is true in the usa because we actually vote for everyone.

Yep. Those two sides of that same coin sure are democracy in action.

I quite like the idea of the German MMP system.

this is true in the usa because we actually vote for everyone

I believe it is true everywhere. If the people who are not allowed to vote don't demand their right to do so and just sit there waiting for soemone to hand them their freedom, then they really deserve to be governed by a dictator. Freedom and liberty have a price, if you dont pay it you dont deserve it.

Just look at us here in the USA, anytime we drop our guard, just a little, and not remain vigilant in guarding our civil liberties even for a blink of an eye, we find ourselves in trouble. I dont know who said it, but i heard it somewhere: Freedom is a whore who demands to be paid in advance. ..... was it LW who said that? i dont know. Someone else said it in a less funny way, he said: Freedom's door is opened with bloody hands. Nothing is free, nothing .... let alone Freedom.

A 'None Of The Above' choice on every ballot.

This is a kind of a desperate solution. But even if we do that, what happens next?

i am not sure, but if it was a presidential election wouldnt the whole thing goes to the House?

if this is the case, what did we achieve by voting NOTA?

I think it was intended as a mildly sarcastic response to my two sides of the same coin moan. Somehow LW doesn't strike me as the type to throw away her vote.

senate. unless your al gore.

If NOTA garners more than 50% of the vote, give 'em six months to present us with a new ballot, with new candidates, and in the meantime the status quo is maintained.

Is this really true? constitutinal i mean. If it is, it will be great. I dont think many voting-people know that.

May be all of us should start a collection and put an Ad to inform people of that hidden secret.

I have to dig up my copy of the constitution and check that out.

If it is not, then we can all keep day-dreaming ourselves out of the mess we are in.

In 1980, i didnt like Carter or Reagan. my wife and I voted for Anderson, remember him?. he got 17% i think. but lost anyway. I thought he was really a good candidate.

I did the same for GW with similar sentiments.

In many ways LW, I think there is opportunity for something like this to happen sadly too many vote out of ignorance (I am guilty in the past). There are so many who will allow words to speak more than actions. If I had a nickel for each person who told me they voted based on what they 'heard from them' , 'liked what they had to say' and the infamous 'He isn't Bush.' The Kerry voters I usually followed up asking them if they have any recollection of how he has voted in the past, I mostly received a blank stare. Maybe it is only a reflection of the area I live but most of the people I surveyed voting for Kerry knew little about his voting record. However those that voted for Bush mostly gave me a response of: "He's the Lessor of two evils."

With that said: if there was a way to get people to make informed and educated votes I think the quality of candidates would change. I'm quite appalled from the GOP comments of "Who do we think can beat Hillary?"

And spreading the idea around via 'day-dreaming' is the first step towards making the dream a reality.

this is true too. I just wish that there was a faster and less complicated way to get out of this mess. I can see at least one of Baker's points. What if we still didnt like what they offer the second time around. It is an open-ended cycle.

A better way i think is for us, the voters, to be less biased and less frivelous. I get soo mad when the talking heads start asking people during the last weeks of the campaign: who would like to have a beer with? or who would you trust with your kids? the best was who would you rather pick you up if you are stranded on a highway?

Are these the bases on which we elect the USA president???????

I'm quite appalled from the GOP comments of "Who do we think can beat Hillary?"

me too. as if this is the criteria to elect our president. We are a pathetic bunch for sure.

I get soo mad when the talking heads start asking people during the last weeks of the campaign: who would like to have a beer with? or who would you trust with your kids? the best was who would you rather pick you up if you are stranded on a highway?

That is a symptom of too much time, and too little news.  During crises, a 24 hour news channel is a welcome addition (like after 9-11).  But during normal news times, it is just an excuse for the talking heads to look stupid and petty.  And indulge their image of self importance.